A new favorite........

My favorite beers are always changing. There are however, always a few beers that are always in my 5. Three Philosophers, one of my all time favorites always, as is Sierra Nevada’s Bigfoot Barelywine (I have a 6 pack of 09 sitting in my cellar!). Stone's Ruination is always awesome. Devil Dancer by found, although I've only ever had one, is one of my all time favorites, and is the highest rating I've ever given a beer.

Lately, I've been drinking a lot of Dogfish Head brews. I've always liked the 60 minute, and really loved the 90 minutes, and always thought the Midas touch was interesting, and enjoyable. However, a while back, I attended a tasting a Whole Foods in Chandler, hosted by Sam Calagione, founder and owner of Dogfish Head. We tried the 60, and 90 and the Midas touch, which was fine with me, all beers I like. However, we also tried the India Brown, which as pretty good, and Rasion D-etra, which was awesome! I ended up bringing a 6 of it home. Since then, I've bought many more! I've since, tried Black and Blue, very good, and Theobrama, which is awesome.

However, a new beer in my top 5 has got to be Palo Santo Marron. It is a dark brown ale, brewed in 10,000 gallon brewing vessels (the largest made in N America since prohibition) made of palo santo (holy wood), gives the beer a smooth, vanilla, caramel mix that is almost breath taking. At 12% ABV it’s pretty strong, but almost goes unnoticed. It’s smooth, some what heavy, but still easy to drink.

Since that tasting, my respect (as well as my knowledge of) Dogfish Head has increased 10 fold. I think they are one of the most daring, experimental brewery's out there, unafraid to take chances, and extremely good at what they do. My hats off, and my glass of Palo Santo is raised to Sam and his crew at Dogfish Head!